BMW has delivered its one-millionth M car, a G80 M3 Competition sedan finished in BMW Individual Fire Orange III and handed over at the company's Munich plant. But independent production data suggests the true tally of M cars built since the E26 M1 entered production in 1978 is just over 1,006,000 — a difference of exactly 6,342 vehicles.
That figure is not arbitrary. According to production data compiled by MDataWorks, BMW built precisely 6,342 examples of the E82 1M Coupe between September 2010 and June 2012. Remove the 1M from the total and the count lands on one million on the nose. BMW has not explained how it arrived at its milestone figure, and MDataWorks does not claim to know, but its analysis narrows the gap to two candidates: the E24 M635CSi, sold in North America as the M6, and the 1M Coupe.
The E24 was built between December 1983 and February 1989, with 5,855 cars produced. Excluding it would leave a total of 1,000,487 — close to a million, but not on it. An older milestone settles the question. BMW celebrated its 300,000th M car in June 2008, and MDataWorks says its own figures up to that date only approach 300,000 if the E24 is included. If the E24 counted then, it presumably still counts, which leaves the 1M as the car on the outside.
There is a case for why BMW might see it that way. The car was never officially called the 1M, because the mid-engine supercar already carried that name, so BMW marketed it as the 1 Series M Coupe. It also used the N54 twin-turbo inline-six from the regular lineup, though the early F87 M2 did the same with its N55 engine and nobody suggests the M2 sits outside the count.
The M3 and M4 dominate the broader picture, accounting for 510,110 cars, or 51 percent of the MDataWorks total. The M5 follows with 134,685 cars across seven generations, then the M2 family at 117,173, the X5 M and X6 M at 88,675, and the M6 and M8 at 55,899. The X3 M and X4 M add 40,366, the Z3 M and Z4 M 31,581, and the XM 21,058. The original M1 accounts for 453 cars.
Every M3 generation has outbuilt the one before it except the E9x, which fell back to 65,985 as the 2008 financial crisis hit. The E30 managed 17,920 cars, the E36 jumped to 71,241 once a sedan and convertible joined the range, and the E46 reached 85,766. The F8x generation, which split the coupe and convertible into the M4, reached 112,060. The current G8x already stands at 157,138 and remains in production, comprising 61,864 G80 M3 sedans, 53,293 G82 M4 Coupes, 23,935 G81 M3 Tourings and 18,046 G83 M4 Convertibles. BMW has never sold the M3 Touring in North America, yet it has still outbuilt the M4 Convertible that Americans can buy.
Split by individual model, the F87 M2 is the most-produced single M car, with 62,146 built between November 2014 and June 2021. It sits just ahead of the G80 M3 sedan at 61,864 — a gap of 282 cars that a model still on the line should close within weeks. The F82 M4 Coupe follows at 57,514, the E46 M3 Coupe at 56,133 and the G87 M2 at 55,027.
North America has taken the largest share of M cars, 414,557 units or 41 percent, ahead of left-hand-drive markets elsewhere at 406,854 and right-hand-drive markets at 184,931. Open-topped cars lean heavily American: 69 percent of Z3 M Roadsters went to North America, rising to 70 percent for the F91 M8 Convertible and 69 percent for the E64 M6 Convertible. From the E36 onward, every M3 or M4 Convertible sent a larger share of production to North America than its coupe counterpart. The Spartanburg effect does not carry over to the XM, however: despite being built in South Carolina, only 38 percent of the 21,058 examples went to North America, against 52 percent for left-hand-drive markets elsewhere. All 453 M1s went to left-hand-drive markets outside North America.